Divide and conquer: why Google's breakup is more likely than ever
Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2024 9:38 am
A few weeks ago, the US courts ruled that Google had systematically violated the antitrust laws in force in the US to build the foundations of an empire of search and advertising services on the Internet. And after this historic ruling, the US Department of Justice is already considering the possibility of forcing Google to split its business into several companies to put a stop to its monopolistic practices. If these plans finally materialize, Android, Chrome and Google Ads would become three independent companies .
But is a Google split really feasible? Although a split of its empire would be potentially calamitous for the Mountain View company, this possibility, which has been on the table for years, is now more possible than ever.
Attorney Thomas Höppner, who has represented various plaintiffs in multiple antitrust cases against Google, believes that a split-up of the US multinational's business is indeed viable . Although spin-offs of large companies have mostly failed to materialize on the other side of the pond, Google's case could be the exception to the rule, Höppner says in an interview with Horizont . The US government has had Google in its sights for years, and although it has so far been content with minimal changes on the part of the company, given that those changes have not had the desired effect, it could now take more far-reaching measures against the company led by Sundar Pichai. And one of those measures would obviously involve the fragmentation of Google's business, he says.
If the US Department of Justice is indeed planning a possible break-up of Google, it would not be alone in implementing this measure, which has already been proposed by the European Commission, the legal expert stresses.
The chances of a Google breakup could also increase depending on the outcome of another antitrust trial , this time related to advertising technology, that the company faces on US soil starting next September.
Breaking up Google would force companies like Amazon and Meta to make concessions to lawmakers to avoid a similar fate
According to Höppner, the most sensible breakup within Google would be to spin off the company's non-search advertising business, including ad tech . "It is unacceptable for Google to have a monopoly on search advertising and simultaneously control display advertising on the open web from both a supply and demand perspective," he stresses. If such a split were to oc armenia whatsapp list cur, "there would be more competition in intermediary advertising services and there would also be more opportunities to develop alternatives to search advertising with greater guarantees and more easily," says Höppner.
According to Höppner, the aim is to make the online advertising market completely transparent and to ensure that the same conditions apply to all those who participate in it . "The ultimate goal is not to reduce Google's market share. If consumers continue to choose Google services and do so in a market governed by complete transparency, we will have already won," he says.
Furthermore, if the spin-off of Google's business were to go ahead, other digital giants such as Meta and Amazon would also be forced to change their monopolistic practices to avoid the dismemberment of their business, Höppner emphasises.
Asked about the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the European Union, the expert is convinced that these two norms are ten years ahead of the American regulations. He also believes that "the United States will end up adopting many points of the DMA because it makes perfect sense to demand certain requirements from the platforms that act as 'gatekeepers'. The affected platforms are generally taking both the DSA and the DMA very seriously, even though there are violations due to the lack of implementation of measures to comply with the current legislation," he points out.
But is a Google split really feasible? Although a split of its empire would be potentially calamitous for the Mountain View company, this possibility, which has been on the table for years, is now more possible than ever.
Attorney Thomas Höppner, who has represented various plaintiffs in multiple antitrust cases against Google, believes that a split-up of the US multinational's business is indeed viable . Although spin-offs of large companies have mostly failed to materialize on the other side of the pond, Google's case could be the exception to the rule, Höppner says in an interview with Horizont . The US government has had Google in its sights for years, and although it has so far been content with minimal changes on the part of the company, given that those changes have not had the desired effect, it could now take more far-reaching measures against the company led by Sundar Pichai. And one of those measures would obviously involve the fragmentation of Google's business, he says.
If the US Department of Justice is indeed planning a possible break-up of Google, it would not be alone in implementing this measure, which has already been proposed by the European Commission, the legal expert stresses.
The chances of a Google breakup could also increase depending on the outcome of another antitrust trial , this time related to advertising technology, that the company faces on US soil starting next September.
Breaking up Google would force companies like Amazon and Meta to make concessions to lawmakers to avoid a similar fate
According to Höppner, the most sensible breakup within Google would be to spin off the company's non-search advertising business, including ad tech . "It is unacceptable for Google to have a monopoly on search advertising and simultaneously control display advertising on the open web from both a supply and demand perspective," he stresses. If such a split were to oc armenia whatsapp list cur, "there would be more competition in intermediary advertising services and there would also be more opportunities to develop alternatives to search advertising with greater guarantees and more easily," says Höppner.
According to Höppner, the aim is to make the online advertising market completely transparent and to ensure that the same conditions apply to all those who participate in it . "The ultimate goal is not to reduce Google's market share. If consumers continue to choose Google services and do so in a market governed by complete transparency, we will have already won," he says.
Furthermore, if the spin-off of Google's business were to go ahead, other digital giants such as Meta and Amazon would also be forced to change their monopolistic practices to avoid the dismemberment of their business, Höppner emphasises.
Asked about the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) of the European Union, the expert is convinced that these two norms are ten years ahead of the American regulations. He also believes that "the United States will end up adopting many points of the DMA because it makes perfect sense to demand certain requirements from the platforms that act as 'gatekeepers'. The affected platforms are generally taking both the DSA and the DMA very seriously, even though there are violations due to the lack of implementation of measures to comply with the current legislation," he points out.